• Task force formed by state documented 300 intersex people in Kenya but noted that the number could be higher.
• Forms for next month's census to have M, F and I on gender section, task force recommended the step.
Kenyan authorities will include an intersex category, along with 'male' and 'female' in the gender section in next month's census, an official from the statistics bureau has said.
It will form part of the efforts to gather data on the number of intersex people in the country.
The census is expected to take place between August 24-30.
Intersex is a biological condition where children are born either with the two sex organs (male and female) or one visible organ while the other is either hidden, malformed or deformed but present.
In 2014, the High Court ordered the state to conduct a countrywide census of intersex people. The case had centered on 'Baby A' who was born with both male and female genitalia. The child's mother went to court to seek legal recognition and protection.
The High Court declared that every Kenyan has a human right to have identity documents that denote gender.
The conventional markers are M for male and F for female.
A special task force set up by the government to look into the interests of intersex persons and identify reforms required to respect and protect their rights as Kenyans affected has already presented its report.
The task force recommended the government to include the new gender identity in the census forms. It documented 300 intersex people in Kenya but noted that the number could be higher.
Chairman Mbae Njuguna outlined the significance of the team's work.
"One is to champion the change of the law so that in our official documentation, it is possible to have a third sex. If there is ambiguity, we have the I marker, which stands for Intersex," Njuguna said.
The Task Force on Policy, Legal, Institutional and Administrative Reforms regarding Intersex Persons in Kenya has recommended a halt to the practice of corrective surgery and the introduction of a third gender marker, I, on official identity documents.
Another major step came recently when a government body, the Registrar of Societies of Kenya, acknowledged intersex people as a society.
Despite the step, intersex Kenyans say they battle prejudice and stigma related to their sexual orientation.
Edited by R.Wamochie